V.A. pursues Veteran’s widow for mistaken pension

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ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Lucille Koester's husband, Andy, was a veteran of five battles in WWII, including the Battle of the Bulge. Despite suffering physical ailments and PTSD for the rest of his life, Andy never wanted to collect disability benefits from the government. But after his death, representatives with the Veterans Affairs department pressed Lucille, telling her she was entitled to the money.

Lucille was enrolled in a pension program that awarded her about $600 a month for the rest of her life. But then the government told her she was not actually eligible because of a teacher's pension that she was, also, getting. But the checks kept coming. Now the government wants its $40,000 back, plus interest -- demanding more than $55,000 dollars all together.

The interest keeps piling up for Koester, despite filing an appeal with the federal government. Lucille said she wants to return the money and do what is morally right. It is the same spirit that kept her husband from collecting his pension in the first place, feeling that he was just another American who answered the call to war.